Sean O’Malley praises fans as rival Merab Dvalishvili shows him respect after UFC 324
Former UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili was an unlikely supporter of Sean O’Malley at UFC 324 this past weekend.
As we know, Sean O’Malley squared off with Song Yadong on Saturday night in the co-main event of UFC 324. It was a hard fought affair and while many felt as if Song had done enough to get his hand raised, it was ‘Suga’ who got the show back on track with a win that helped vault him right back into championship contention at 135 pounds.
Sean O’Malley had to dig deep in order to pick up the win and he was more than happy to do that, being pushed on by his many cheering fans in the crowd. In addition to his standard fanbase, his former rival Merab Dvalishvili was one of the surprising faces shown to be actively encouraging Sean during the fight.
Who knows, maybe we’re entering a period of time where a real bromance is emerging between Sean O’Malley and ‘The Machine’.
Sean O’Malley praises fans after UFC 324
O’Malley: “F***in love you guys. Thanks for the support.”
Dvalishvili: “[fire emoji]”
In addition to this small gesture, Merab released a video of him actively supporting O’Malley throughout the course of his contest against Song Yadong. Who knows, maybe even after all the animosity between them across two fights, they can wind up being good friends.
In terms of what’s next, both men could make an argument for deserving a title shot, but a trilogy fight doesn’t appear to be on the horizon at this time. With Umar Nurmagomedov lingering and Petr Yan waiting to find out who will next challenge him for the belt, you could argue that things haven’t been this interesting (or competitive) at the top of bantamweight for a very long time.
